


I Now Pronounce You

by Beyond_Kailani



Series: One Piece Bingo [1]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Child Monkey D. Luffy, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:54:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beyond_Kailani/pseuds/Beyond_Kailani
Summary: “So, you ran off to get married and didn’t invite us, your loyal friends and crew? How rude!”
Relationships: Akagami no Shanks | Red-Haired Shanks/Makino
Series: One Piece Bingo [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2076963
Comments: 5
Kudos: 101
Collections: One Piece Bingo 2020/2021





	I Now Pronounce You

**Author's Note:**

> One of my entries for the OP Bingo Prompt Accidental Marriage. I don’t think it’s actually possible for captains to marry people in RL without a licence but I couldn’t get the idea from my head so I ran with it. 
> 
> Unbeta'd except by me so excuse all mistakes

Sneaking off one’s own pirate ship when they were the captain was just embarrassing, Shanks thought, glancing back to check that any one of the crew – namely Benn and Yasopp, guard dogs that they were – hadn’t noticed his bid for freedom.

He heaved a relieved sigh when it appeared he’d managed to get away with it. The whole crew were taking this far too seriously. So, he’d lost an arm? It could’ve been worse and it was entirely worth it if it meant Luffy came away unharmed. He felt fully recovered from his encounter with the sea king – if he ignored the occasional slip when he over compensated with his balance - and he refused laze around in bed anymore. It was boring. Lazing around in the village bar, though, he thought with a grin, that was never boring.

He opened the doors with a flourish, fully expecting to be met with that little cheery voice he had come to adore and a beautiful lady’s smile but there was only silence. He frowned.

“Ah! You’re up already!”

He turned to see Woop Slap, the old man, hunched over the end of the bar. He hadn’t noticed the man tucked away in the corner. He nodded a greeting to him.

“Should you be up?” Woop Slap asked, eying him critically.

Shanks scoffed and waved his hand is dismissal. “I’m right as rain! No idea why everyone’s fussing so much. It’ll take more than an old sea king to finish me off,” he boasted, leaning on the bar and hoping the fatigue he felt from simply walking to the village wasn’t obvious. From the unimpressed look the old man gave him, he hadn’t quite succeeded. “Where are Makino and Luffy anyway? I thought they’d be here,” he said.

He hadn’t seen much of either of them while he’d be sequestered in his cabin recovering beyond a couple of short quick visits and he found himself missing their company.

He had not expected to stay as long as he had in East Blue. It was notoriously a quiet sea and rarely did anything untoward happen and admittedly it was a little boring after the excitement offered by Paradise and the New World. But after Roger’s death, he’d found he hadn’t had much heart to leave his former captain’s home sea. It was comfortable and familiar and it soothed the loss just a little.

But Makino, Luffy and his crew – many of whom, like Yasopp, he had met while idling away his time in East Blue – had reignited some of his desire and he could feel a long-forgotten itch just starting to buzz beneath his skin.

Luffy was going to be part of the new generation of pirates growing up with the Pirate King’s words and the legacy of One Piece. He could sense it. There was something about the kid that reminded him of Roger, despite the years that separated them. Some men were born great, and Shanks suspected Luffy was one of them.

He felt a responsibility on his shoulders to judge if the new generation were worthy of the crown. And he couldn’t very well do that if he continued to linger in East Blue.

He wondered briefly if Luffy would even want to be part of it. He certainly had the guts for such a small kid and with a devil fruit in his favour – and Shanks couldn’t help but roll his eyes when he recalled that incident. He couldn’t believe he’d managed to lose a devil fruit like that and he really hoped that the story never got back to Buggy or he’d never hear the end of it.

Phantom pains from his missing limb took the opportunity to remind him he should probably finish completely healing before he tried to tackle the New World again.

“Makino took the afternoon off. Luffy’s been a little… upset… since the incident with the bandits,” Woop Slap said, his eyes jumping to Shanks’ empty sleeve.

“Ah. Any ideas where I can find them?” he asked, pushing himself away from the bar.

“Around the back.”

Shanks nodded his thanks and ducks around behind the bar, heading for the back door. He turned in the direction of where he knew there was a small sandy play area someone had had the forethought to set up and where Luffy loved to play.

To his surprise, when he arrived at the small sandy grove, he saw someone had dragged a dinghy ashore and half buried it in the sand pit. On closer inspection, it was an old dinghy that looked like it had a hole in its keel that was spilling sand into the bottom and the mast was held together with an abundant of ropes. They obviously made great footholds for a six-year-old though, because he could see Luffy had managed to pull himself all the way up the mast and was perched atop it proudly, rubbery limbs wrapped tight to he wouldn’t fall.

Oddly, Luffy was staring though a glass tankard, one eye scrunched up comically while the other stared unblinking. 

Below him, in the middle of the bench with her hands folded neatly in her lap, sat Makino, smiling gently.

“Captain Luffy!” she called, voice soft and sweet. “Do you see anything Captain?”

In response, Luffy twisted his head slowly like an owl, surveying the edge of the play area through his glass. Shanks grinned when he realised Luffy was using the glass as a makeshift telescope.

“I see…” Luffy shouted back, still turning slowly. Shanks waited until the glass was pointed straight at him before waving cheerfully. “SHANKS!” Luffy jerked back in surprise and in the process, his rubber limbs unwound their hold and he slipped from his perch. He landed with a small thump in the sand.

Shanks winced and started to hurry over when Luffy popped back up in a shower of sand, completely unharmed. He had his signature grin in place and he waved wildly at him.

“Shanks! Come and play with us!” he called.

Shanks patted the top of his head in greeting when he reached them and carefully lowered himself onto the bench next to Makino who smiled warmly in greeting.

“Should you be up yet?” she asked quietly while Luffy tried to find his glass.

Shanks shrugged, ignoring the pain the action caused him. “I’m fine! And if I stay in that cabin any longer, I’ll die of boredom!” he moaned dramatically.

Makino laughed. “Do Benn and Yasopp know you’ve snuck away?”

Shanks gaped at her. “I never! But no, they don’t know I’m here,” he admitted cheerily. “I’m giving them a break.”

Makino looked at him knowingly but to his relief she didn’t immediately demand he turn around and get himself back to his ship. Instead, she said, “Well, there’s no fear of boredom getting you here while Luffy’s around!”

Shanks laughed in agreement. Things were never boring with the little tyke around. He turned to Luffy to see he had found his glass – miraculously unbroken in the fall – and was shaking the sand from it.

“So, Luffy, what are we playing?” he asked eagerly.

Luffy beamed. “I just rescued Makino from the evil bandit king and now we’re off to find their treasure island!” he explained.

“Excellent!” Shanks exclaimed, slapping his knee. “I know this one! Captain Luffy, might I be permitted to join her crew to protect the fair Makino here,” he said, winking at Makino.

“Yeah! You can navigate!” Luffy said, voice nearly lost in the bowels of the dinghy as he dug around until he pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. He thrust it into Shanks hand and he was amused to see a crude drawing of what he assumed was an island with several crosses.

“I’d be delighted to! Captain, would you like to take the wheel! We’ve got some bandit treasure to plunder!”

**xxx**

He really shouldn’t have been surprised to see the annoyed expression on Benn’s face when he ambled back up the gangplank a couple of hours later. He knew he would get one when he finally returned, but still ducked his gaze and stood like an errant child in front of his friend.

“And where have you been all afternoon?” Benn huffed, crossing his arms. “I hope you didn’t pull any of those stitches!” He gestured to have a look at his bandages.

“I didn’t do anything but sit and navigate!” he said with a grin, complying to the inspection without complaint.

“I’m surprised you made it back at all then, Captain,” Yasopp teased, coming to a stop beside him.

“Oi!”

“Well you don’t seem worse for wear,” Benn said, stepping back with a satisfied smile. “What did you get up that required a navigator?”

“I was playing with Luffy, a most honourable and brave ship’s captain who had rescued the fair maiden Makino from a bandit! We went after their treasure and then in celebration of their defeat, Luffy wanted a party that somehow ended up with him marrying us instead. Still not quite sure how that happened,” he finished. He thought it might’ve been when Luffy asked Makino what treasure she wanted to keep and she declared the largest diamond ring. He’d joked that she should only accept them from her husband and Luffy ran with the idea. He’d stumbled over a few of the words but he’d conducted a very touching ceremony.

Yasopp laughed heartily. “So, you ran off to get married and didn’t invite us, your loyal friends and crew? How rude!”

Shanks rolled his eyes good-naturedly at the jibe. “It wasn’t real, idiot.”

Benn hummed. “Ship captains can marry people for real though, can’t they?” he said thoughtfully. “So, if Luffy was declared and acknowledged as captain, and he proclaimed you and Makino married, doesn’t that mean that you are _actually_ married?”

Yasopp burst into laughter, howling and clutching at Benn’s shoulder in an effort not to fall over.

Shanks scoffed. “I think I’d know if I just got married! Especially to someone as lovely as Makino!”

“No, no! I think Benn’s right!” Yasopp gasped. “I think captains do have the power to marry someone! Did Luffy say ‘I now pronounce you?’”

“It wasn’t real! We were just playing a game!” Shanks huffed, wishing desperately he could cross his arms right then.

Benn and Yasopp looked at each other and then their captain, a smirk mirrored on both of their faces.

“No, I think that’s the rule and you just got married!” Benn crowed.

“You should probably go and let your wife know!” Yasopp cackled. “But maybe not in front of Woop Slap. The old man’ll kick your ass, pirate or no!”

Shanks gaped at them. “Seriously?” he called after their retreating backs and ignoring their laughter. “Are you guys serious? I thought that was a myth! Does it count if it was on dry land? Guys? _Guys!_ ”


End file.
